The Witch's Temptation

A Night Out

We waited for a little while longer, when I saw Josh and two other men come up from where the parking lot was. They looked like they were in some sort of sharp dressing gang. The two men flanked Josh.

Both men were an inch or so taller than him. Both had a boyish look to them. The one on the right had dark brown hair and the other was blond. I smiled and waved.

Their eyes swept over all three of us as they stopped in front of us. The blond was really focused on Emmalyn. Maybe this was just what she needed to help her relax.

“Clover, these are my friends Tom and Paul. Guys, this is Clover and her friends Jen and Emmalyn.” Josh said.

We all greeted each other. Tom was the one with eyes for Emmalyn. He walked over and offered her his arm. She was hesitant, but accepted.

I noted that she only had a small purse with her. Emmalyn would often consult her runes before doing anything outside of her duties at the shop, so I could imagine she was missing them a little. Jen wrapped her arms around Paul’s and winked. He grinned and pulled her along to the bouncer.

Josh gave his name to the man with the clipboard and he let us all into the club. It was really cool to get to skip the line. I’d seen people do that before, but never been one of them.

Taking my hand, Josh led us to the VIP section where he was also on the list. I bounced with excitement. I’d never been a VIP before.

A waitress met up with us and took us to a booth. She introduced herself and took our drink orders. As expected, Josh only got one beer, nothing harder than that. I ordered some wine and smiled at him.

We both knew what we were planning for later, neither one of us was going to be too out of it to enjoy it. Tom and Paul were talking intently to Jen and Emmalyn. Where Jen seemed comfortable, Emmalyn didn’t.

I grabbed the girls and pulled them out of the VIP area and onto the dancefloor. Emmalyn seemed to relax. It was only a couple of songs before we attracted the attention of a few guys out on the prowl.

Sandwiched between two of the taller ones, I ground my body into theirs, feeling the rush of their bodies rubbing mine. I’d always wanted to try two men at once. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like. Of course, two men like these would definitely try to dominate me. I needed two submissive guys who would follow all my instructions.

Pulling myself from between them, I found Emmalyn dancing with Tom. I guess she loosened up a little. They were dancing intimately. Josh and Paul were grinding on Jen. She looked ecstatic. I chuckled and headed back to the VIP section.

A hand grabbed my arm and I felt a wave of dizziness overcome me as I turned. There was a big werewolf with his hand on my arm. He was black, with tightly cropped hair, dark eyes, and lush lips. His muscles were amazing.

I smiled at him. “Can I help you?”

“Who’s that guy dancing with your red haired friend?” He asked in a deep, gruff voice that sent chills through me.

“That’s Tom. He’s a friend of my other friend, Josh, the one with light brown hair who’s grinding up on our other friend. Why, you want an introduction?” I asked.

He stared at them and growled a little. “No. Sorry to bug you on your date.”

“This isn’t a date, just a bunch of people hanging out and seeing what happens. You should come sit with us, I’m sure my friend could make time for a handsome man like you. And, if she doesn’t, I know I definitely could.” I purred.

“I’m a one-woman man. I was just wondering because he looked familiar. That’s not the guy I thought it was. I’ll let you go now.” He said and released me.

I watched him as he lumbered away. Now, that was a man. Whoever that one woman was, she was lucky as hell.

Over the last week, I’d noticed how broad and tall most male shapeshifters were, especially werewolves. If I could get over this dizziness, maybe I could catch one who was still playing the field. That would be heavenly.

At the table, I slid into my spot and sipped my drink. I flagged down the waitress for some water too. Wine was not exactly quenching my thirst.

Sometime later, Josh came and sat with me. He sipped his beer and smiled.

“Having fun?” He asked.

“I needed to cool off, some of those guys got me all hot and bothered.” I laughed.

“I like to hear that.” Josh grinned.

I shook my head and drank a little more wine. Jen and Paul came to sit down and sipped on their drinks. I looked around, but couldn’t find Emmalyn and Tom.

“Where’d Emmalyn go?” I asked Jen.

“She had to use the restroom. She’ll be back in a few. We can rest for a bit, then go dance more.” She replied.

“I think I need a visit to the ladies room, actually. Back in a bit!” I said cheerfully and headed in that direction.

A sign pointed out the hallway where the restroom was. People were making their way out of there pretty quickly. I wondered what was going on.

In the hallway, the light was a little brighter. I could see something at the end of the hall. It looked like a monster. Next to it was Emmalyn. She was pulling on its arm. That was when I saw that it had Tom held up by the neck.

“Please, Derrick. Let him go!” Emmalyn pled.

“He was forcing himself on you, Emma. No one does that to you.” The monster growled.

It looked like a mix of a wolf and a human and I started to get dizzy as I got closer. It was more intense than normal. I’d never seen a shapeshifter in their half human/half animal form.

“You saved me and I appreciate it Derrick, but you’re going to get in trouble if you kill a human. Queen Bellamy could hurt you.” She insisted.

“Like you would care. If I can’t make you love me, then I’m going to make damned sure you’re safe for your future mate.” He replied.

That was the voice of the man who had asked me who Tom was. It suddenly struck me, didn’t she say her stalker was some crazy werewolf named Derrick? I wasn’t even paying attention.

I strode up to them and prepared myself. I would use my fire magic if I had to. We needed to save Tom and get Emmalyn away from Derrick.

“Derrick….” She sighed.

He released Tom, who slid down the wall, unconscious. Derrick changed back into his fully human form. I paused and watched them.

“Emma, you know I love you. I only love you. I’ve been changing. Really changing, not just pretending. I let my wolf reject all the silver in my body, no tattoos, no piercings, nothing from when I was ‘Crazy Derrick’. I don’t take deadly bets. I don’t sleep with other women. I just want to be near you.” Derrick begged.

It sounded a lot like Steven. He would tell me about the changes he made that he thought I would like. He would beg me to give him a chance. I moved closer, I couldn’t let her be harassed.

“You are not my mate. You will never be my mate. Leave. Me. Alone.” Emmalyn stated firmly.

“I’m not trying to be your mate anymore, Emma. I’m just trying to watch out for you. Queen Bellamy had me see a counselor. When I made all these changes, and started acting less crazy, I started realizing that I lost my chance with you when I tried to kidnap you. I could have tried to turn it around and I might have actually won you. I’d just never felt anything like that before. You haven’t let me apologize. I’m sorry for what I did. I want to be your friend, if I can’t be your mate. Let me keep watching over you. It makes my wolf feel better.” He insisted.

Emmalyn stared up at him. I couldn’t move. This wasn’t my place. If he had pressed the relationship stuff, maybe, but it sounded like he was truly regretful.

“I don’t want to be your friend, Derrick. I don’t want you around me. I don’t need a protector. I’m a witch. I may not be the most powerful witch out there, but I can fight off a human on my own.” She told him. “I’ll forgive you if you leave me alone.”

I moved beside her and put my hand on her arm. Emmalyn jumped a little and then hugged me. I looked at the wolf. He seemed really sad.

“Thank you for keeping her safe until I got here. I’ll take care of her now.” I told him.

He nodded. I turned and walked Emmalyn back to our table. She told me how Tom had followed her down the hall, then dragged her farther and pressed her up against the wall. She told him no and tried pushing him away, but he was stronger than her. Before she could use her magic on him, Derrick showed up.

We made it back to the table and I gave a shortened version what happened. Suffice it to say, Josh was pissed. Paul sighed and shook his head. It seemed like this wasn’t something he was surprised by.

Emmalyn ordered a few shots and downed them quickly. I sent Josh and Paul to go deal with Tom, once I realized she wasn’t in a good way. Jen and I scooted closer as she had four more shots delivered to the table.

“He’s everywhere I go! I can’t get away from him. I can’t have a normal life. Of course, there he is, trying to look like a wounded puppy dog as he crashes into my life again.” Emmalyn growled as she took another shot.

“Maybe you should slow down.” I said.

“I can hold my liquor, Clover. I can’t believe he thought an apology would suffice after he tried to f*****g kidnap me!” She shouted. “That crazy, womanizing, mutt! I hate him so much! Then he made me feel bad! Why should I feel bad for him?!”

“You shouldn’t! He’s an asshole!” Jen told her.

“Right!? Such a f*****g asshole!” Emmalyn said as she tossed back the rest of her shots. “He thinks that I should just roll over and accept him because he’s built like a f*****g Greek god. I have a soulmate somewhere, you know. Just because I haven’t done a soulmate search, doesn’t mean I never will. There’s a perfect man waiting for me somewhere. And he’s not Derrick f*****g Travers!”

“I know, Emmalyn. I totally get it.” I said.

“Of course, you get it. You have some bastard trying to make you his, too.” She grumbled.

We sat with her while she drank and raged. Josh and Paul returned without Tom and told us he’d decided to leave. I was grateful for that.

In the end, we put a very drunk Emmalyn into a cab, then called it a night. I wish I could say I was the sort of emotional softy that was put off by my friend’s distress. I really wish I could. Instead, I made good on my promise with Josh and gave him another memorable night once we got back to my place.